Gary Sheffield of course was worried when he heard about Dwight Gooden’s latest run-in with the law, the most recent in a long list of substance-abuse woes. The Yankees right fielder said he’s been dealing with Gooden’s troubles for 17 years.

But as far as helping his uncle, he said there’s no more help to give.

“I did that before. I put him in rehab; I spent a lot of money to do that. I’ve done pretty much everything you could possibly do. It comes to a point you just have to let him go through what he’s got to go through,” Sheffield said before last night’s game vs. Toronto. “Sometimes it’s in God’s plans for us to back off and let him do it, because the family has tried everything.”

The 41-year-old Gooden was being sought by police yesterday on a felony warrant after he allegedly refused to get out of his 2004 BMW to take a field sobriety test and drove away from the officer who pulled him over.

“It’s sad. It’s a shame what he has gone through,” Joe Torre said. “To have the problems he’s had throughout his career, I’m sure he wishes he can turn the pages back.”

Now Gooden, who was out on bail after a March domestic-violence arrest, is wanted on felony charges of DUI and fleeing police, and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence.

“You just have to be there as a family member,” said Sheffield, who said he hadn’t talked to Gooden in a month. “I’m sure everybody has a person in their family that has a problem, and he happens to be the one. When he hurts, I hurt. When he’s dealing with this, and not in the right frame of mind, I get really concerned.”

Gooden hasn’t worked for the Bombers as a special adviser since April, and the club wasn’t sure of his whereabouts. Sheffield said he wasn’t angry over his relative no longer working for the club.

“No, he’s a man on his own. You’ve got to do the right thing; you’ve got to live a certain way,” Sheffield said. “If you’re not doing it, you can’t expect to be working for somebody. They did what they had to do. His situation I’m sure got to them. Hopefully he can overcome it.”